Omaha daily bee., 1887-11-06
WITH THIS RING | THEE WE'D
Tho Curious Bits Of History Attached
to the Wedding-Ring.
ORIGIN OF AN AoNoRED CUSTOM

ORIGIN OF AN hONORED CUSTOM.
Sketch in the Popular Sci
ence Monthly by ID. r..
McAnally.
OF all the ornaments with which van
ity, superstition, and affection have
decorated the human form, few have
more curious bits of history than the
finger-ring. From the earliest times
the ring has boen favorite ornament,
and the reason for this general prefer
ence shown for it over other articles OF
jewelry are numerous and cogent. Or
naments whose place is ON some other
portion of the apparel, or in the hair,
must be laid aside with the clothing or
head-dress, are thus easily lost and
often not at once missed. Pins,
brouches, buckles, clasps, buttons, all
sooner or later be come defective in
in some part, and are liable to escape
from an owner unconscious of the de-
feet in the mechanism. The links of a
necklace in time become worn, and the
article is taken off to be mended; the
spring or other fastening of u bracelet
is easily broken, and the bracelet van
ishes. With regard to orna-
ments fastened to parts Of the
savage body, mutilization is neces-
sary, the ear must be bored, the nose be
pierced, the cheeks or lips be slit, and,
even after these surgical operations are
completed, the articles used for adorn
, ment are generally inconvenient, and
sometimes, by their weight or construc-
tion, are extremely painful.
In striking contrast with decorations
worn on the clothing, in the hair, round
the neck and arms, or pendent from the
ears, lips and nose, is the lingering,
the model of convenience. IL IS sell
dom lost, for it need not be taken Off;
requires no preparatory mutilation of
the body, is not painful, is always in
view, n perpetual reminder, either Of
the giver, or of the purpose for which
it is worn.
The popularity of the ring must
to its convenience, and that this good
quality was early learned may
be inferred from the Hebrew tradition,
which attributes the invention of this
ornament to Tubal-Cain, the instructor
of every artifcer in brass and iron. !"
The barbaric lover, in choosing token
for his mistress, was doubtless actuated,
like the lover of to-day, by the wish to
be kept in remembrance, and the prov
erbal saying: ''Out of sight, out of
mind" being as true in savage as in
civilized times, he sought for a me-
mento which should be always in view,
never laid aside, not in danger of being
lost-which, in short, should become Il
part of herself, mutely reminding her
Of him, and presenting silent remon-
STRANGE when her affections went
astray. For the purposes of a love-gift
he could find nothing more suitable
than the ring. And when the agonies
of courtship finally settled into the
steady troubles of matrimony, it was
not remarkable that this token of affec-
tion should remain on the finger of the
bride. or be removed, to be succeeded
by another of similar kind.
| The
USES OF THE FINGDR-RING
have been many and diverse. Origi-
nally purely for ornament, it became a
signet for kings and warrant for thor
messengers; to civil officers it was an
emblem of office, and to ecclesiastics an
Indispensable portion of the episcopal
costume. 1t was once worn by physi-
clans to prevent contagion. and by pa
tients to cure disease, the timorous
wore it as a charm against evil spirits
and the ambitious clung to it as a tails
man, giving the wearer success over
his enemies. But as a love-tolen, and
a symbol of marriage, the use of the
ring is so general, and Of so long stand
, ing, as to dwarf into insignificance its
employment in all other directions.
At what period it came into play as q
recognized factor in the marriage cere.
; mony it is impossible to say. The He
: brews used it in very early ages, and
probably borrowed the custom from the
Egyptians, among whom the wedding
, ring was known-a circle, in the Ian
: guage of hieroglyphics, being the sym
, Dol of eternity, and the embodiment O
the circle readily symbolizing the ny
pothetical duration of welded love
I The Greeks used wedding-rings, so die
\ the Romans, both putting them on the
fore-iinger--by the way. practice
followed by the medieval paint
t sent the virgins ring on hel
forefinger. In the east, where tn,
popular estimate of woman is low, tn,
use of the wedding ring has not beer
: common, though occasionally the favor
; ite wife OF an oriental monarch woult
!; receive from her master n ring as
4 mark of his favor. The conclusion
y therefore, is safe that, with increase o
: respect for the institution of marriage
;, come also increased respect for and u.s.
. of the ring as token Of the alliance.
y During part OF the middle ages
this respect showed itself in peculia
way. custom demanding that the wed
!. ding ring should cost as much us tn,
: bridegroom could afford to pay; an,
@ there are records in Germany ant
France, during the fourteenth and fif